Thank you for visiting the websites operated by R-Tech/EU-VRi to facilitate the exchange of information between the various players active in the fields of risks, risk technologies and technological innovation. The purpose of this Privacy notice is to inform users of the websites about what information might be collected about them when they visit this site, how this information is used, if it is disclosed, and the ways in which we protect users' privacy.

R-Tech/EU-VRi are committed to user privacy. To better protect your privacy, we provide this notice explaining our on-line information practices and the choices you can make about the way your information is collected and used by us.

Policy on "protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data by the Community institutions" is based on Regulation (EC) N° 45/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18th December 2000. This general policy covers the European Union "family" of institutional websites, including CORDIS as well as services in the "europa.eu" domain.

You can browse freely through most of our websites without giving any information about yourself. However, in some cases, personal information may be required in order to enable us to provide the e-services you request. In such cases, this personal information is treated according to the policy described in the above-mentioned Regulation. Please note that we collect no personal information about you when you visit our websites unless you choose to provide that information to us.

Some R-Tech/EU-VRi websites contain links to other sites whose information practices may be different to those of R-Tech/EU-VRi. We are not responsible for the privacy practices within any of these other sites. You should be aware of this when you leave our websites and we encourage you to read the privacy statements on other websites you visit, as we have no control over information that is submitted to, or collected by, these third parties.

In some cases, R-Tech/EU-VRi require users to register in order to gain access to certain pages or e-services, for example to access protected areas of projects, or to participate in one of our on-line surveys. The types of personally identifiable information that may be collected on registration include:

Information we need to provide the e-service you require (mandatory).

Information you may choose to provide, and which can help us to have a clearer understanding of our user community as a whole - e.g. telephone number, fax number, age group, information about your interests in, and use of, various products, programs, and services, etc.

In general, a cookie is a small file created in your computer by an Internet site to store information, such as your preferences when visiting that site. For example, a cookie might contain a record of the pages you looked at within the site you visited, to help the site customise the view for you the next time you visit. Cookies can also store personally identifiable information that can be used to identify or contact you, such as your name, e-mail address, home or work address, or telephone number. However, a website only has access to the personally identifiable information that you provide - for example, R-Tech/EU-VRi cannot determine your e-mail address unless you provide it. Also, a website cannot use a cookie to gain access to other information on your computer. Once a cookie is saved on your computer, only the website that created the cookie can read it.

There are several types of cookies:

A persistent cookie is one stored as a file on your computer, and which remains there when you close your browser (MS Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, etc.) The cookie can be read by the website that created it when you visit that site again.

A temporary or session cookie is stored only for your current browsing session, and is deleted from your computer when you close your browser.

A first-party cookie either originates on, or is sent to, the Web site you are currently viewing. These cookies are commonly used to store information, such as your preferences when visiting that site.

A third-party cookie either originates on, or is sent to, a website different from the one you are currently viewing. Third-party websites usually provide some content on the Web site you are viewing. For example, many sites use advertising from third-party websites and those third-party websites may use cookies. A common use for this type of cookie is to track your webpage use for advertising or other marketing purposes. Third-party cookies can either be persistent or temporary.

Unsatisfactory cookies are cookies that might allow access to personally identifiable information that could be used for a secondary purpose without your consent.

Most Internet browsers allow you to choose whether to allow some, none, or all cookies to be saved on your computer. Please check the "Help" facility provided within your browser to understand your available options and how to manage these. If you do not allow cookies at all, you may not be able to view some websites or to take advantage of certain customization features.

1. R-Tech/EU-VRi do not use cookies in any systematic manner, but only in a limited number of specific circumstances in which the user benefits from the use of particular cookies - for example by not having to repeatedly provide a password.
2. No use is made of cookies by us to gather any personal information about you. Any personal information you provide (e.g. by registering for use of certain services) is not connected with cookies, is solely for use by the R-Tech/EU-VRi service, and will not be communicated to third parties.
3. We do not permit the use of third party cookies.
4. Users should be aware that by following links provided in our pages they may arrive on webpages that are not part of R-Tech/EU-VRi sites and thus not under our control or responsibility. Some of these pages may be published by organizations with different cookie policies and may set cookies.
5. We reserve the right to modify our policy and practice in the use of cookies at any moment without prior notice - however, our objectives to respect the privacy of each user and to use cookies solely for the purpose of improving the service provided (e.g. by saving the user time, reducing inconvenience, anticipating requirements, etc.) will remain unchanged. We will also notify users of any changes in cookie policy by announcement on our websites.
6. Users who set their PC browsers to block cookies (either in general, or - on some browsers - just for a particular website URL) will still be able to view and use our pages. However, by blocking cookies, the user may experience inconveniences such as needing to repetitively provide passwords, or to repeatedly refuse an automatic transaction request. (NB: We have observed that users working with some older browser versions may experience some operating difficulties with cookies.)

Any personal information you provide to R-Tech/EU-VRi will be held securely, and your personal details will not be disclosed to third parties. We may only disclose information we maintain when required to do so by law, for example in response to a court order. We also may disclose information in response to a legitimate request from an official law enforcement agency (e.g. the police, or an investigating magistrate).

We have put in place, and we regularly review and update, appropriate physical, electronic, and managerial procedures to safeguard and help prevent unauthorized access, maintain data security, and correctly use the information we collect on-line. Agents and contractors of the European Union who have access to personally identifiable information held by us are required to protect this information in a manner that is consistent with this Privacy Notice by, for example, not using the information for any purpose other than to carry out the services they are performing.

Although we take appropriate measures to safeguard against unauthorized disclosures of information, we cannot guarantee that personally identifiable information will never be disclosed in a manner that is inconsistent with this Privacy Notice. Inadvertent disclosure may result, for example, when third parties misrepresent their identities in asking the site for access to personally identifiable information about themselves for purposes of correcting possible factual errors in the data.

We have set up a number of automatic checking systems (e.g. if an e-mail address provided no longer exists) that may indicate if a particular registered user appears to be no longer making use of the service. In the event that such a case is detected, we will make every effort to contact the registered user concerned before deleting the information, but we reserve the right to delete personal information records, and associated service and access rights, that appear to be no longer in use and/or valid.

Individuals may register with various R-Tech/EU-VRi services. All such registrations are kept centrally as a single record and are used to build a composite profile of the user and their requirements in order that we can design and deliver services that are relevant and avoid unwanted communications.

Registered users have password protected direct Web access to their profile and are able to enhance or edit it, to cancel their registration, or to request "un-subscription" from specific services. Our Help Desk is provided to deal with other user enquiries or problems, and the contact details of the Help Desk are provided on every automated communication.

The Publications Office will take all reasonable steps to protect the privacy of registered users. It will not release any individual user details to third parties. Should the legal mandate for its actions cease, the Publications Office will erase the data or will seek the permission of the registered users, on an individual basis, for whatever alternative action is proposed. Contractors operating information services on behalf of the Publications Office are legally bound by confidentiality clauses.

In order to avoid unnecessary Internet traffic, and wastage of server resources, all mailing addresses will be checked for integrity and validity. All non-working addresses will be de-activated.

All sources will be checked against the central database and de-duplicated such that users do not receive multiple mailings if an identical address is obtained from more than one source.

The frequency of mailings in certain subscription services is determined by the availability of data and speed is in some cases of the essence in getting information to subscribers in a timely fashion. Other mailings will be governed by a mailing plan constructed such that users generally only receive mailings about once per month and never receive two mailings closer than two weeks apart.

R-Tech/EU-VRi cannot avoid sending bulk mail in response to its users' subscriptions. However, each e-mail is a customised collection of information for an individual subscriber and so is sent separately and never as a bulk addressed single e-mail. In addition we will when possible:

Avoid sending bulk mail at times when the Internet traffic levels are known to be high.

Batch deliveries and spread them over time so that it does not overload servers.

Notify major ISPs that our bulk e-mail is from a known and respectable source and should be delivered to the recipient.

Send automated messages from a special address and server in order to avoid anti-spam systems blocking normal correspondence between us and our users.

You have the right to request a copy of your personal details at any time to check the accuracy of the information held, and/or to correct or update this information. You may also delete your personal information completely - this will mean that you will also terminate all services and access rights that may be linked to this information. (NB: To assist users who accidentally delete their personal information, we keep an archive of deleted data).

To protect your privacy and security, we will take reasonable steps to help verify your identity before granting access or making corrections.

If you wish to access or correct your personal information, you may either do this yourself on-line, or ask us to help you. Please contact:

If this Privacy Notice changes in any way, we will place an updated version on this page. Regularly reviewing this page ensures that you are always aware of what information we collect, how we use it and under what circumstances, if any, we will share it with other parties.
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Last updated on: November 2, 2009